


Four Letter Words

by flibbertygigget



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 10:31:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11484522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flibbertygigget/pseuds/flibbertygigget
Summary: Five four-letter words Rick uses, and one he will never say.





	Four Letter Words

** Damn **

Rick doesn’t give a damn about using the word damn. It slips out as easily as breathing. It’s the consequences of using it that are sometimes hard to swallow, like pure vodka from his flask.

** Shit **

“As far as Grandpa’s concerned, you’re both pieces of shit.” Time shudders almost imperceptibly around him, and Rick promptly tells his brain to shut up. He can’t have even a second of doubt. He’s doing this to get them out of there, and you have to break a few eggs to yadda yadda yadda. Morty and Summer’ll get over it.

** Hell **

When Rick came knocking on Beth’s door, his first impression was that their family was almost disgustingly normal. House in the suburbs, white picket fence, two kids, the works. Hell, none of them even _swore_.

The first time Summer said “what the hell,” Rick had resisted the urge to high-five her. About time she got out from under Jerry’s stupid _Leave it to Beaver_ shadow and started to live a little. She was 16, for fuck’s sake.

The first time Morty said “what the hell,” trembling and stammering after a run-in with some kind of alien goop that moved way more quickly than either of them had expected, Rick had gotten himself even more drunk than usual.

** Cunt **

Rick doesn’t usually say cunt. Part of it’s because, well, it’s not a fun word. You can’t say cunt and not mean it, not unless you’re Australian or from Dimension U-4K12. But when he and Summer finally get back from the stupid-ass dimension with the meatheads and the matriarchal chicks and the sex robots, he can only find one real thing to say.

“What a bunch of cunts.” Summer nods in agreement.

** Fuck **

Rick doesn’t give a fuck about using the word fuck. It’s simple, it’s crude, it’s everything you want from a swear word. But the consequences…

“Fuck you, Summer, and fuck the government, and fuck me for letting my guard down, which I will never do again.”

“Geez, Rick! You can't say ‘f... 'f' you’ to your granddaughter.”

“I just did, Morty. Here's dessert. Fuck you.” The words spew from his mouth like breathing, like vomit. If he could make them stop, he would, fucking hell he would, but he can’t. Birdperson is dead, everyone is dead, and his life has been destroyed _again_ by those fucking bureaucrats.

“Fuck Earth.” Morty looks like he’s about to cry, like full on sob. Poor kid, he only has, like, one abandoned life under his belt. He’s still too fucked to realize that it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. Fuck.

** Love **

Rick doesn’t say the word “love.”

Well, okay, that’s an exaggeration. He says is as a joke, or when he’s warning Morty against making all the same mistakes as everyone else throughout human history, but he doesn’t use it _seriously_. He doesn’t say “I love you.”

But, God damn it, if he did, if he could, he would use it now. He would just fucking say it, as though giving a shit wouldn’t backfire the hell into his ass, as though he was an actual human being with human feeling and not just a cunt who didn’t care for anyone but himself. So, instead, he does what he always does.

“Hey. Uh... I was gonna hop over to the Gloppydrop System, get some ice cream.”

So he goes, and tries to ignore the fact that, at some point in his worthless life, ice cream had become a synonym for love and all the bullshit and heartbreak that went along with it.


End file.
